Perfect conditional, continuous - Form

This tense is composed of two elements: the perfect condtional of the verb 'to be' (would have been) + the present participle (base+ing).

Subject

would have been

base+ing

I

would have been

sitting

We

would have been

swimming

Affirmative

I

would have been

studying.

Negative

You

wouldn't have been

living.

Interrogative

Would

we have been

travelling?

Interrogative negative

Wouldn't

it have been

working?

Examples: to work, Past continuous conditional

Affirmative

Negative

I would have been working

I wouldn't have been working

You would have been working

You wouldn't have been working.

He would have been working

She wouldn't have been working

We would have been working

We wouldn't have been working

You would have been working

You wouldn't have been working

They would have been working

They wouldn't have been working

Interrogative

Interrogative negative

Would I have been working?

Wouldn't I have been working?

Would you have been working?

Wouldn't you have been working?

Would he have been working?

Wouldn't she have been working?

Would we have been working?

Wouldn't we have been working?

Would you have been working?

Wouldn't you have been working?

Would they have been working?

Wouldn't they have been working?

Function

This tense can be used in Type 3 conditional sentences. It refers to the unfulfilled result of the action in the if-clause, and expresses this result as an unfinished or continuous action. Again, there is always an unspoken "but.." phrase:

If the weather had been better (but it wasn't), I'd have been sitting in the garden when he arrived (but I wasn't and so I didn't see him).

If she hadn't got a job in London (but she did), she would have been working in Paris (but she wasn't).

Examples:

If I'd had a ball I would have been playing football.

If I'd had any money I'd have been drinking with my friends in the pub that night.

If I had known it was dangerous I wouldn't have been climbing that cliff.

She wouldn't have been wearing a seat-belt if her father hadn't told her to.